Yesterday was the longest day of the year. No, really. I’ll begin with the end of the day– we were returned to our hotel, where we stumbled out of the car to our room. We didn’t even make it to dinner– apparently I passed out on the bed in my bathrobe with the television remote in my hand. So yes, it was a long day. A good day, but a long one!

For all of our hotels, we have breakfast included in our package. As many of you know, I’m a fruit and veggie lover, so making wise choices at breakfast buffets in China is really tough for me. Given the water safety issue, amazing-looking fresh fruit and cold salads are off-limits. We have to rely completely on bottled water for drinking, even in brushing our teeth!

After a morning stroll outside, Chen and our driver met us at the hotel and whisked us off to the Great Wall. They took us to a lesser-visited segment of the Wall, which was much more difficult to hike but well worth the decreased crowds. They waited outside the gates after briefing us on do’s and don’t. “Do bring water. Don’t walk too far!”

Yeah, this is kinda steep.

Before our hike

The wall was everything and nothing I was expecting. What we saw and experienced was grand and overwhelming. It was also physically taxing. By the end of our walk (about an hour), Brian was soaked in sweat and I wasn’t feeling so hot. The steps are incredibly steep, and unequally spaced. We got lots of footage (ala camcorder man Brian), but it doesn’t do it justice. It was a bonding experience to see lots of local tourists of all ages hauling themselves up (and later down) the crazy steps. It was unsafe. It was scary at times. It was something I can’t wait to share with Alexander someday.

A very helpful handrail?

For lunch, we hit a very crowded noodle restaurant, where we showed off our chopsticks skills to our guide. Good news– I use my chopsticks the correct way! I still can’t wrap my brain around drinking hot soup for lunch when it’s 85 degrees outside, but it worked.

The next stop was the Summer Palace– a residence and former prison for some of China’s leaders. Note to self– spend more time here next time. To say it was a beautiful park would be an understatement. Brian commented that it was just like EPCOT– a former emperor built the park for his aging mother in order for her to experience the natural beauty that she couldn’t visit in person. It was complete with a manmade lake and dragon boats- so there! I could go on for hours about this place and its history, so photos will have to suffice for now.

All aboard the dragon boat!

One dragon boat ride back to the entrance later, we were then off to a pedicab tour of a local hutong with a guide who went by the English name Frank. He was fantastic, and touring the historic community was really awesome. We even made a stop at the local market– he asked if we wanted to stop in. Can you guess our response?? He took us through the stalls, where we asked questions about the food and let the vendors try and peddle their wares. The highlight was Frank offering for us to try a “thousand year” preserved duck egg with a local beer. I really liked it– footage to follow soon. We climbed to the top of the original drum tower for an evening drum performance, and wrapped up the pedicab tour with a visit to a local woman’s home in the hutong. She was incredibly gracious, and visiting her home was both humbling and inspiring.

Our final stop for the day was to a tea shop for a traditional tea ceremony. Mind you, we were exhausted at this point. We both learned a surprising amount about tea, and the tasting was enjoyable. Our eyelids were drooping by the end of the day, and our trip back to the hotel was complete with Friday night Beijing rush hour traffic. Day complete!